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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22807810">Fade Into Light</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PowerfulTenderness/pseuds/PowerfulTenderness'>PowerfulTenderness</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M, POV Second Person, ambiguous ending</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:00:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,693</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22807810</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PowerfulTenderness/pseuds/PowerfulTenderness</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kylo Ren has been out of your reach for so long now, but its surprising how being forced into battle somehow brings you closer to Ben Solo.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ben Solo | Kylo Ren/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fade Into Light</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for @kylosupremeimagines (Tumblr) Valentine’s Day Fic Exchange.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Although you used the Force to deaden the sound of your boots, the man you were attempting to sneak up on turned around quickly. His red lightsaber easily sliced through your vibrosword and set you off balance.</p><p>“Where is your lightsaber?” </p><p>His voice was so different when he wore that helmet. The distortion fit his new armor well, but your ears did miss his natural voice.</p><p>“I didn’t...I didn’t want to hurt you.”</p><p>“Hurt me? Ha.” </p><p>You winced. </p><p>He pointed his saber at you, ready to strike but holding still. “Draw your weapon.” </p><p>“Ben. I just-” </p><p>“Kylo! I’ve told you. It’s Kylo Ren now.” </p><p>You frowned as you stared into that mask, wishing you could see his warm eyes instead of the cold chrome. “Not to me, you’re still Ben. You’re still my best friend.” </p><p>“Then you are a fool. Like you’ve always been.” </p><p>His saber hummed as he swung, forcing you to drop to your back and draw your own saber, red and green flashing to muddy colors as you blocked his attack. Your vision blurred slightly as the heat from the two blades got closer to your face. You had no choice but to fight back.</p><p>You pushed with all your strength, with a considerable amount of the Force behind your push, and still only managed to push him off just long enough for you to roll back to your feet. <strike>Ben </strike>Kylo Ren was a strong man and master swordsman. Back when he was still training at the temple, he even made Master Skywalker sweat. You, on the other hand, were good, but not <em>that </em>good. </p><p>It wasn’t long before he had your back to a wall, literally. The old temple was crumbling and the stone digging into your back only served as a reminder that he was toying with you. Instead of panic flooding your senses however, a flash of mischief overcame you. You could only hope that Ben was still alive inside of Kylo Ren.</p><p>You disengaged your blade, ducking down and side stepping as he stumbled into the wall from the sudden lack of resistance. He spun quickly but was met with the tip of your saber now at his neck. </p><p>“Cheap tricks won’t save you.” </p><p>
“Cheap? <em>You </em>were the one who taught that move to me.” </p><p>He was silent and you just knew that underneath his mask he was pursing his lips together in frustration. The cheeky grin on your face quickly dropped when you sensed others approaching. You turned on your heel, your saber in a defensive position. </p><p>You felt the air move around you, heard the swish of his cloak, and felt warmth radiating off of him as he moved into a defensive stance next to you. It almost reminded you of training with Ben Solo. Almost. </p><p>The first sniped shot was deflected by Kylo’s saber, the action forcing him even closer to you so that you could feel the massive bulk of his back against yours. You deflected the next shot and soon the two of you were working in a defensive sync, blocking blaster fire before either of you could get hurt. </p><p>“My shuttle is a couple klicks west of here.” You offered first, knowing your best chance to get out of this ambush was with his help.</p><p>He stepped further into your space, blocking you from further attacks until you reached the cover of the tree line. He didn’t need you to cover him as he took two giant leaps from the crumbling temple into the forest. Nor did you wait for him to ask you to lead the way, as soon as he was clear of the fire you started running in the direction of your shuttle.</p><p>“If they aren’t with you?” </p><p>He shrugged, and it looked oddly exaggerated in his new heavy armor. “Treasure hunters, probably.”</p><p>“They’re not gonna find anything. I spent two days in that temple with nothing to show for it.” </p><p>You stopped running, throwing your back against a tree as you reached out with the Force to see if you were being followed. You looked to your left, Kylo also had his back against a tree but he was looking at you, or past you, it was hard to tell with that stupid mask of his. </p><p>“What were you looking for in the ruins?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You heard me.”</p><p>“Uhmm…” What were you going to tell him? That you heard the First Order was suddenly interested in the ruins of Jedi temples and you were determined to make sure that they didn’t find anything useful? Yea. That wouldn’t end well for you at all. </p><p>“<em>What</em> were-”</p><p>“You gotta keep up if you wanna make it to my shuttle!” </p><p>“Keep up?!” </p><p>Even with the voice modulator in his helmet, you could hear the skepticism in his voice. Not that you could blame him. In just the short amount of time since he began to train under a new master, he was so much stronger since last you saw him. He could very easily claim the rank of a Jedi Knight if the New Jedi Order hadn’t been-</p><p>You were so caught up in your thoughts that you nearly ran out into the open the second you saw your shuttle. The only thing that saved you from that fatal mistake was a sudden pull on the back of your shirt. You let out a strangled grunt as you stumbled backwards into Kylo’s chest. </p><p>You looked up with a glare at him but before you could say anything, he clamped a cold gloved hand over your mouth. You were about to fight him, struggle and protest, when movement ahead of you caught your attention. Two people, both so armored that their features were obscured, were walking off your shuttle carrying a crate of supplies between them.</p><p>You pulled Kylo’s hand down as you realized there were more mercenaries around your shuttle, some breaking it down, some scavagining your supplies, and some on guard. </p><p>“Aww, my shuttle. Do you know how long it took me to get the credits to buy it?”  </p><p>He didn’t answer you, but let you stare at your shuttle for a little while more. With one arm wrapped around your waist, and with you still holding onto the hand he initially had covering your mouth, it almost felt like he was trying to comfort you. It was odd to say the least. This was the kind of gesture you’d expect from Ben Solo, but Kylo Ren? The man who was just trying to kill you? And yet, you couldn’t deny that you felt, of all things, <em>safe</em>.</p><p>“Come, we can use my ship.” </p><p>Though he said this, he didn’t let go of you quite yet. And you didn’t pull away. You wanted to relax in his arms, like-</p><p>He moved first and you felt a familiar pang in your heart as you turned to see Ben Solo walking away from you all over again. You shook your head, that man clad in all black wasn’t walking away from you, he was <em>leading </em>you. Kylo Ren, Ben Solo, whatever he called himself, he was still your friend. He just needed to remember.</p><p>It didn’t take long to reach his ship since it wasn’t parked very far at all. Which meant that you didn’t have to travel far to reach it, and neither did the mercs. </p><p>“Hey, why aren’t they stripping your ship? They didn’t waste any time breaking into mine!” </p><p>“They seem to be smart enough not to mess with the First Order.” </p><p>You rolled your eyes at his tone as you counted the guards standing around the custom TIE fighter, which you promptly forgot as you realized something else.</p><p>
“Wait a minute. A TIE? Does it have a gunner seat? I can’t tell from here…”</p><p>“No.” </p><p>“No? No? What are we supposed to do? Squeeze in together?” </p><p>“We’ve been in tighter spots before.”</p><p>“Yea, before you hit your growth spurt and turned into a giant!”</p><p>“I can always leave you here.”</p><p>“Fat chance!” </p><p>“Then less arguing and more killing.” </p><p>There was no more arguing with him as he strode out of the cover of the forest and into the open zone. A few of the mercs pointed their rifles at him and started yelling at him to stop. He didn’t. They opened fire, he ignited his lightsaber and began to make quick work of them. </p><p>You were almost tempted to let him do all the work, but seeing the mercenaries call in backup, most likely those who had been working on your shuttle, changed your mind. You didn’t quite walk out into the open like him however. Instead you remained under cover and used your blaster to pick off the incoming mercenaries from a distance. </p><p>It worked well, keeping the number of people that Kylo had to fight to a minimum and keeping you in a safe spot. Until you felt a sharp burning sensation hit your side. You swallowed a pained yell and rolled out of your hiding spot. You risked a glance back to see two mercs chasing you and cursed under your breath.</p><p>“Ah, Ben! Incoming!” </p><p>He turned, his cloak swirling around him, with an outstretched hand as he used to the Force. You turned and couldn’t swallow the scream this time. There, just a few inches from your face was a blaster shot hovering in the air. </p><p>Acting quickly, you pulled out your lightsaber and used it to hit the blaster fire back at the mercenary who shot at you. It was easy to hit it back to him too, as both men were shocked to see the Force used in such a manner. Even you were shocked, but you knew better than to just stand around and stare in amazement. </p><p>The impact of the return shot knocked both men back and gave you the time to catch up to Kylo. </p><p>“How many times must I save you?”</p><p>
“You wouldn’t do it if you didn’t love me.” </p><p>You could practically see him rolling his eyes behind that mask of his, especially with the little shake of his head he gave. “Let’s go before more come.” </p><p>Now that the fight was over and your adrenaline levels were falling, you were starting to feel the pain of the wound on your side. You did your best to ignore, you would have to wait until you were somewhere safe to attend to your wound. </p><p>You jumped into the TIE after him, landing awkwardly on his lap, and had to bite back a hiss of pain. Your landing was none to gentle on him too, he grunted and had to immediately catch you and adjust the both of you in the single person seat. One of your legs dangled next to his while the other was stretched out across his lap. It was a tight fit but he managed to get his arms around you enough that he could still pilot effectively. </p><p>“Tired? Instead of chasing me around the galaxy, you should concentrate on your training.”</p><p>You coughed out a laugh, “I was here first.” </p><p>He chuckled, or at least you assumed that's what that noise from his helmet was, as he ignited the engines and started the ascent. He mumbled something about auto pilot once he broke atmo but you were starting to feel sleepy. Your head dropped on his shoulder and you moved even closer to him. “You’re so warm.” You whispered as your eyes drooped. </p><p>Kylo was content on ignoring your odd comment, writing it off as exhaustion, but shifted to get a better look at you when he felt something wet seep through his sleeves. </p><p>“Did you somehow find the one puddle on that planet and fall in it?” </p><p>He tried to quip, but when you didn’t answer he took off his helmet and took another look at his hand that was pressed into your side. It took a moment but he realized that the liquid coating his glove was not water. </p><p>“Why didn’t you tell me you were hit?!” </p><p>You jumped at his sudden outburst and held back a cough. “Oh. It’s not that bad.” </p><p>“We need to get you help. Where’s the nearest Resistance base?”</p><p>“Don’t know. I don’t work for them.”</p><p>“You don’t?”</p><p>“No. I just. I just wanted you back.”</p><p>He stared at you until you closed your eyes again. </p><p>“Hey, no. Stay awake. Need to stop the bleeding.” </p><p>The last part he muttered to himself, but you tried to focus on his words anyways, just to stay awake.</p><p>He shifted again, apologizing when you let out a pained whimper, and managed to tear a decent sized piece of cloth from his cloak. As carefully as he could, he wrapped it around your waist, tying it tightly in hopes to staunch the blood flow. </p><p>“I’m taking you to the Supremacy.” </p><p>You hummed in acknowledgment, though the named ship meant nothing to you. Every so often he’d say something, mostly your name, just to make sure you were still alive. You obliged him every time, with a grunt or a hum, occasionally you’d say his name. <em>Ben</em>. He never corrected you.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Eventually you lost consciousness. </p><p><br/>
</p><p>When you came to again you were on a medical table, an unresponsive med droid sat in the corner of the white room. You didn’t have the strength to sit up, even if you did, you wouldn’t have been able to. Your wrists and ankles were tied down to the table. </p><p>Ah. So Kylo Ren did end up taking you back to the First Order. If they were hoping for information on the Resistance, they were going to be disappointed. You were telling the truth when you said you didn’t work for them. </p><p>Whatever. Kylo Ren, and his new master, could easily find this out through use of the Force. You just wanted to get your hands free. Your side, where you’d been shot, was still hurting. Not as much, but clearly you needed to wake that med droid again. </p><p>You reached out with the Force, attempting to find Ben/Kylo, what you found instead made you retreat back so quickly the sensation was almost physical. </p><p>Evil. Pure evil. You’d never sensed anything like it before. It wasn’t Kylo Ren. It had to be his new master, Snoke. </p><p>What scared you was the intention you sensed. Death. <em>Your </em>death. What scared you the most, however, wasn’t that Snoke intended to kill you. That you could have guessed. It was that the intention was <em>shared</em>. Kylo Ren was determined to kill you to further throw himself into the dark side of the Force. </p><p><em>No</em>. He couldn’t. He didn’t want that. If he wanted you dead he could have just left you on that planet alone to die. He wouldn’t have brought you back to his ship and given you enough treatment to make sure you would live. Why waste resources like that? Why make the effort to save you if he was just going to kill you?</p><p>In your panic you reached out to Ben again, hoping that he would help you. That’s when you sensed his indecision. The side of him that was Ben Solo wanted to save you. The side of him that was Kylo Ren wanted to kill you. It was like seeing two sides of a coin. The tear in his will was growing. <em>And you knew</em>-</p><p>The doors to the med bay hissed open and the slow cadence of boots echoed in the room. You tried to look up to see who it was but you could only lift your head enough to see black. He still had no cloak. Your eyes traveled up to his armor. If you looked closely you could see the blood stains from your wounds. If you looked even closer you could see that the armor was torn, and some of the blood stains were fresh. </p><p><em>And you knew</em>, if you looked higher and saw the familiar face of your friend, you had a chance to escape. But if you saw the mask of Kylo Ren, you were good as dead.</p><p>
  <em>And you knew.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>For more of my work, you can follow me on Tumblr @ https://powerfultenderness.tumblr.com/</p></blockquote></div></div>
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